Friday, January 29, 2016

53. (Frazetta) Leering Wizard portrait. (1954)
Accomplished in pen and ink on 3 x 3 in. artists’ leaf. Small, but each
and every line is perfectly placed. From the great 1954 sketchbook.
This is a miniature masterwork. Look at it closely and carefully and its
qualities will emerge.

Three unidentified Confederate veterans at the Gettysburg reunion, 1913.
The event, held between June 29 and July 4, 1913, the 50th anniversary
of the battle, was the largest Civil War reunion ever held, with over
50,000 veterans in attendance. These three unidentified Virginians were
among the approximately 8,750 former Confederates at the event. Each
wears a ribbon (long, with fringed end) marked “R. E. Lee Camp / No. 3 /
Hampton, Va.” Each also wears a reunion badge similar to this one,
though possibly with stacked rifles in place of the cavalry’s crossed
sabres. The man at center, directly facing the camera, wears a single
metallic bar on each collar, while the one at right wears two stars.
These correspond, respectively, to Confederate officer ranks of Second
Lieutenant and Lieutenant Colonel; do these indicate wartime ranks, or
perhaps posts within the UCV? I don’t know. The two men at right also
appear to wear the Southern Cross of Honor on their lapels, presented to veterans by the UDC. Photo by Harris & Ewing, via Library of Congress.